What I Saw At The Lake
by Pink-Ink-92
Summary: Quite by accident Ace Merrill discovers a sinister secret in his town. He's going to find out exactly whats going on as the secret goes deeper into the roots of the town than he could have ever imagined. R&R, story to be continued if interest is expressed
1. Chapter 1

**What I Saw At The Lake **

**A/N: This will start off as maybe a chapter or two, depending on how it goes. And indeed if any fool decides to read it. **

Chapter 1- All Is Not Still 

The moon reflected a silvery glow onto the surface of the water that was rippled by the cold and gentle breeze of the wind. Ace Merril snickered as he flicked his cigarette butt into the fouled face of the lake, as the cigarette butt sank beneath the cold skin and joined its peers as it dropped softly onto decades of filth that lined the bed of the lake.

A low rumbling in the background echoed onto Aces ears, "Guys, shut up." He said, as he shot a look at his pals, they fell silent at once. At once suspecting the park ranger of snoopery, he searched the opposite side of the lake, where he saw headlights shattering the darkness just 35 metres away.

He moved further toward the edge of the lake, as the truck came into sight. He backed behind the willow tree as the others watched on in curiosity, moving a little closer to the scene, leaving their cars in the safety of the shadows.

The truck reversed back towards the lake as the water licked the wheels, he could see the truck more clearly, it was a blue toyota. It didn't belong to the park ranger, and yet he couldn't break the tense silence with his own relief.

The drivers seat door squeaked open and a silhouette stepped lightly onto the dusty path. He saw the figure look around, but the cover of the willows protected the group from sight. The person leant back inside the truck and took something off the passenger seat.

The door slammed shut a little louder than intended as the walking shadow looked sharply around to see if anyone heard. The object from the front seat lit up, the silouette was carrying a torch.

The onlookers were silent as the grave, and they could hear the footfalls of the mysterious figure as they walked to the back of the truck that was perched over the edge of the lake, shining the torch to guide their way, it illuminated the back right wheel, where there was an obvious dent.

The figure jumped into the back of the truck, creating a metallic clang as their feet hit the floor. The figure turned the torch off and put it on the floor behind them and was lost in darkness, the only running narrative being the scraping noises and shuffling of feet that happened for what seemed like an eternity. Ace silenced his ragged breaths and turned to face Billy whose face was illuminated in the moonlight.

Ace gestured for him to move back into the shadows, as Billy moved a twig snapped loudly beneath his foot, he heard the figure stop moving and felt their eyes looking exactly at the illuminated spot where they could have easily spotted Billy's face just seconds ago.

All was completely silent for what seemed like hours. Then, the shuffling resumed and there was a loud thud and a splash as something very heavy splashed into the water, there was a gentle splash next to it, as it was pushed out, further into the lake, sinking as it went until the silhouette strode softly out of the water.

Standing next to the truck for a moment, where the moon illuminated the shadow watching a bulky piece of cargo sink asit drifted out towards the boys who rustled further back into their respected hiding places behind trees and bushes. They then heard the footsteps resume as the figure walked out of the light and back towards the drivers seat.

He heard the door squeak open again, and carefully closed behind the mysterious stranger, the indentity of whom was a question mark. He heard the engine rumble back to life as the truck stuttered out of the woods.

All was silent for a few seconds whilst Ace checked that the coast was clear, he moved quickly out from behind the tree and ripped through the woods, running through rustling leaves and jumping over logs. Until he reached the side of the lake where he could see a dark shadow lit up by the moon, "Ace! What're you doin'" Eyeball called as the others cautiously followed.

"Could be something valuable in there, whatever it is, its too important to go in the trash."

"But someone's throwing it out and not selling it, so it can't be valuable." Eyeball said, Ace snapped his neck round to glare at Eyeball to question his decision.

"Did I ask for the idiot's guide to what not to dig out of a lake?" Ace snapped loudly.

"Sorry, Ace." Eyeball murmured.

The water shadow was too far away to pull in, so Ace jumped in recklessly, swimming out to find it, then he swam down, where he managed catch hold of a handle. The heavy load began to weigh him down but he swam upwards with all his force until he dredged it up onto the surface where it floated long enough for him to guide it in, where the others grabbed it and pulled it on to the bank.

Ace pulled himself up onto the bank, the freezing water stinging his body, where the moonlight presented the load to be a trunk, leatherbound, and hefty with a metal padlock on the side. But none of that mattered, all that mattered was what was in the trunk. But he had a feeling he already knew.

"Shit, it's padlocked." Billy observed. Ace shot him a look that told him how stupid this observation was.

"Charlie, light." He commanded, Charlie retrieved his lighter from inside his denim jacket, and threw it to Ace, who bent down next to the trunk and lit the lighter next the padlock, where it started to glow red hot, he was careful not to hold the lighter underneath so that no melted metal would drip on him, slowly but surely it started to melt. The tense silence was not relieved as the boys thought of what riches could lie beneath the leather cover.

Finally the lock was melted completey, and Ace kicked the case open.

A blue hand anaemic with death flopped out of the case and the boys all recoiled back, all except Ace, who let the smell of death and festered flesh was over him like the warm waves of a calm ocean.

**A/N: There may be a next chapter if any interest is expressed in me continuing it, please review with any thoughts, opinions, or dare I say it criticism that you my wish to express.**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey again, sorry it's taken so long for me to start writing again, but I hope you guys will like what's coming up, if at any point you find something to criticize in this or you don't like the direction it's taken or if you have any ideas of your own for me I'd love to hear them.

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Ace blinked in the sunlight as the blistering rays scorched him for the nineteenth consecutive day that summer. He leaned on the door of his car lighting a cigarette for no particular reason. The smoke scratched his already dry mouth and his brow beaded with sweat as he took a long drag from the cigarette, letting the smoke fill his chest as his forehead beaded with sweat. It was hot. Too hot. Ace stuffed the cigarette packet back up his t-shirt sleeve and stubbed the cigarette out on the car that was parked unwisely next to his.

He stepped away from the car and went to find some shade in one of the stores. And maybe some description of entertainment. He hadn't spoken to the others since friday night at the lake, it was now tuesday and he was bored. No one came to find him at his house, nobody called and nobody met him at the lake for drinks on Saturday night.

They all had some explaining to do.

His feet walked him into the newsagents but his mind kept wandering back to the lake. He wondered whether anyone was looking for that guy and if the trunk had floated back up after he had pushed it out again by himself. The party ended pretty quick after that. Nothing like a corpse to kill a party, he knew that from last summer.

No one had wanted to go near it, they all ran off home and left him to deal with tying up the loose ends as usual. He'd looked for ID and found nothing. But still Ace wondered who he was and what he'd done to get iced. Or more importantly who he'd done it to.

Ace picked up a stick of gum from the sweet stand and pushed it into his pocket, looking around as he did so. A piercing guffaw broke his concentration as he dropped the stick of gum on the floor and made a crack noise on the tiles. The store clerk looked over for a while as Ace crouched down to pick up the gum, looking up at the clerk hoping he'd look away for long enough to steal the gum. No such luck.

He placed the gum quietly on the shelf and walked quickly out of the air conditioned store and out into the heat. The piercing laugh sounded again and Ace headed round the corner to find the source, concealed down an alleyway next to the drug store was his gang.

Ace grinned with recognition, they hadn't realised he was there yet, and continued their quiet conversation and game of cards, Billy's laugh was the only sound that made it to the end of the alleyway. Ace walked quietly down the entrance to the alley past the dumpsters and watched for a moment, waiting for Billy to stop laughing so he could make his entrance. It was colder down here.

"Hey, shitheads, where you been?" He said, smiling.

Their conversation ended abruptly and there was silence, while they all looked at him. The penny dropped - his gang had met up without him. The smile dropped from his face as he headed towards them not saying a word.

"We were just..." Eyeball he faltered and looked down at his battered shoes and waited for the impending hit from Ace.

Acewas now within their circle, standing, only Eyeball stood in the corner while the others were sitting with their cards scattered in the centre of their circle, some of the cards still in hand as if Ace's grand entrance had stopped time.

"Didn't know we were meeting up today." Ace said coldly.

"We weren't." Skinner piped up from the circle to fill the silence. "We were all just at the same place and decided to come down here and, uh, Donovan had some cards so we just..."

"Right." Ace looked away.

Donovan looked around the circle, "It's not about Friday night or anything." It most certainly was. The second Donovan said it, he knew he'd said the wrong thing.

"I think it is." Ace said.

"N-No." Billy said, "We've just all been really busy, the parents are busting my chops about spending time with my brother and the others got chores and stuff so we couldn't make it on Saturday." He tried to keep the peace, it was a good excuse, and anyone else would've let it go. But Ace was not anyone else, if he was, he probably wouldn't have gotten himself into all this to start with.

"Well, a little notice would've been nice so I wouldn't have waited up for you guys by myself like some kinda CHUMP." He snapped. The group looked at their shoes.

"Sorry, man." Eyeball said as he looked up from the corner. The others began their collective grovel. Ace hated it when they did that.

"Luckily, it wasn't just me." Ace said confidently, he was lying. "I was gettin' some while you guys were sat at home cleanin' the fish tank." He grinned cockily.

"Who with?" Donovan said eagerly, stepping forward. Ace smiled, he was definately back in control, as the others moved forward to hear all the gory details.

"Man, I don't even know who she was." He chuckled. Barely believing they were swallowing this.

"So some girl just..you know...and didn't even tell you her name?" Eyeball said, moving closer again, he was obviously impressed by Ace's find of the century.

"She might have, but I don't remember." He bragged.

"And you didn't even know each other. Man, you dog!" Eyeball congratulated him as they all patted him on the back and made barking noises to their leader.

"So really, it's just as well we weren't there." Billy chuckled. The group fell silent again.

"Man," Ace started, "I should be thankin' you guys!" He laughed, and they all laughed with him as they headed out of the shade of the alleyway and into the scorching heat of July.

Ace walked ahead of them slightly andlet them follow in his wake. He noticed a girl around their age with long, chocolatey brown hair breezing down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, in a summer dress holding a light bag from the DIY store. She was, to use Eyeball's phrase "Mucho bangable". He decided to take the lie one step further, hoping he could pull it off.

"Guys!" He said quietly stopping in his tracks as the others stopped behind him, snickering as the walked into each other. "That's her!" He said, pointing across the street to Little Miss Mucho.

"No way!" They all murmured with agreement of her status.

"Dude, go over there and do your thing! You might be able to...you know..." Eyeball leered. Ace gulped inwardly.

"Uhh, she won't even recognise me, she's probably slept with, like, five guys since Saturday!"

"Oh man, you have to do it. Just do something, before she walks away!"

"Hey!" Ace called loudly across the street, grinning at the girl, inwardly cringing as he knew that she didn't even know who he was. She stopped and looked up and around, she then locked eyes with Ace. A car drove down the street and broke her blank stare.

"Go over, go over, go over." Eyeball said quickly, nudging him into the road, Ace walked across the road towards the waiting girl.

"Hey." Ace said again to her as he stopped in front of her.

"Hi." She said, still looking at him blankly.

"You dropped this." He said, drawing out the packet of cigarettes from his t-shirt sleeve.

"I don't think I did," She said. "Sorry, someone else must've dropped them"

"Oh right," He said, tucking them away, knowing full well that it looked to his friends as though he'd just offered her a cigarette.

"Yeah, uh, thanks anyway." Sh said, slightly awkwardly as she swung her bag in her hand.

"Yeah, uh, sorry to bother you." Ace had no idea he was this polite. He turned to walk away and saw his friends across the street trying to attract the girls attention, he looked over his shoulder and she was looing at them and started across the street towards them as they beckoned her over.

She walked across to the sidewalk as they all made air-hump-y motions and kissy noises. She was clearly a bit narked, "What?" She snapped.

The boys all chuckled as Ace ran across the road to see what they were saying, wondering if his sham was about to be exposed. But a stream of cars prevented him from getting to his friends.

He could see the motions they were doing and knew she wouldn't get it, but apparently she just thought they were freaks and wasn't saying anything. He could hear Donovan jeering her loudly.

"We know what you diiiid!" He sang and the others joined in.

"Excuse me?" He could hear her say.

"We know what you did at the lake!" Said Eyeball, leaning forwards. But Ace could still hear what he was saying.

She shifted her postion, and her body stiffened slightly.

"Someone's been a naughty girl, doing naughty things down at the lake!" Eyeball jeered, laughing. The others laughed with him and she started to walk briskly away, but they continued to shout it down the street at her as she fished her car keys out of her bag and hurriedly jumped into her truck and drove fast down the street. She was pretty lucky actually, Toyota's are pretty fast, particularly the blue one that she sped away in.

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A/N: Okay, it might have been pretty obvious, but please leave a review and I'll warn you that it could be a while before I write the next one, but it's really important to have feedback. Have I said it enough yet? :P


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